By Scott Gilfoid: John Murray (31-1, 18 KO’s) has an impossible task on Saturday night in trying to beat the unstoppable WBA World lightweight champion Brandon Rios (28-0-1, 22 KO’s) without the talent to achieve that dream. It’s a pipe dream for Murray and he’s about to have some reality on his plate on Saturday night.

I just hope Murray doesn’t take too much of a beating this time. Murray looked like Frankenstein by the end of his last fight against Kevin Mitchell with both eyes near closed, blood, and swelling. He was awful to look at. And with him on all fours at the end, it was just bad.

Murray has been sparring with Ricky Hatton and Shane Mosley it seems. I had no idea that the overweight Hatton still sparred. He must be at least 50 pounds overweight. It’s a credit to Hatton that he’s willing to spar being out of shape like he is. Murray told the telegraph.co.uk “I’ve sparred with Shane Mosley and Ricky Hatton and held by own. It’s been a great camp and I’m ready to go in there and prove people wrong.”

No, Murray, you’re not going to prove anyone wrong. You’re going to prove everyone right big time. It’s going to be beating and I don’t see any strategy that can save you from your fate. Just relax and go with, man.

Murray needs to run. That’s my advice. If he tries to fight Rios, he’ll go down hard and fast. It won’t be a slow beating like the Mitchell defeat lasting eight rounds. No, Rios will take him out quickly and mercifully. Murray might be better off just putting all his cards on the table and going all out in the 1st round. Getting knocked out quickly is perhaps the best thing for him because he’ll take too much punishment if the fight drags into the second half of the bout.